We have some exciting news to share!! Together with the help of many of you who were able to be a part of our ‘Wild Horse Solution’ Adoption Day Fundraising Event (on National Help a Horse Day)… WE WON THE ASPCA GRANT AS A RESULT OF OUR EFFORTS!!!! We feel incredibly honored to have placed among the top 5 organizations! The ASPCA let us know that they were really pleased with the participation this year (over 80 groups competed from over 30 states). Furthermore, they let our fiscal sponsor (OneOC) know that they we were “very impressed by EARTHEART”. We are excited to see the awareness and momentum surrounding the humane treatment of our beloved equine. So, THANKS AGAIN to all of you who were able to participate & helped make that event an extreme success!! We are very grateful to have received this award and accreditation from an internationally acclaimed organization! The $10,000 grant received along with the generous support of our donors has helped to offset our ‘proof-of-concept’ program costs for this initiative in support of America’s Mustangs. We have successfully completed a 90-day program, demonstrating our ability to execute and highlighting core aspects of our ‘Wilderness Ranch – Wild Horse Solution’!

We are keeping a close eye out for an RFP (Request for Proposals) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is scheduled to post sometime in the next few months. We are ready to submit our plan and are better positioned now more than ever, armed with our experience and accomplishments over the past 6 months.

In the meantime, while Wilderness Ranch is continuing to work with the Mustangs in the facility we are looking to develop the therapeutic component of the program with a focus on veterans and their families.

Which leads us to another EARTHEART news feature:

June 21st we gathered up on Wilderness Ranch for Summer Solstice, we invited community to join us in celebration of our successes this year and to cast forth our intention and prayers for all that lies ahead. The event sure was special, filled with joyful and inspiring moments with a few notable highlights to mention here:

We kicked off with community gathered for a quick reminder of why we brought everyone together, topped off with a story written by Ariel Anderson and read by Jamie Green to set the tone for the day. Buddy Silversmith of the Navajo tribe, then shared an extremely vital foresight. His message was austere and imperative in tone, yet hopeful. He told us that the four-legged and eight-legged have stepped aside – that they are talking to us – telling us their secrets of holding space for this earth. He said we must listen.

Buddy conducted a traditional Native Prayer Ceremony, with our children surrounding the drum, keeping rhythm and joining in song. We invited the community, encircling the earth mandala we had created to fill it with their prayers, shared intention and love. Then we danced through the sunset with our musical muse Trevor Green taking us on a sonic journey into the night with the ant people. The celebration later continued around the campfire with more music, storytelling and fire-dance expression.

In the hustle to set up prior, focused on the beautiful mountain setting and natural brush backdrop to the stage and dance floor, we hadn’t realized we were on top of an anthill. We pondered the irony looking back and realized our placement was intuitive, as were many of the happenings leading up to and following that evening & day after. According to native teachings, “ant medicine is about planning and preparation. The ant people speak toward community and industriousness. They remind us of the importance of discipline and patience with endurance.”

This was very suitable, as these same topics happened to be center of conversations being had throughout the weekend. We felt very blessed to have had such beautiful people in attendance, and so thankful so many are asking “How can we help in support of EARTHEART?” Community. Working energetically & devotedly. Discipline. Patience with endurance. Thank you friends in attendance, for these ever so crucial reminders and for the inspiration to push forward!

And we also want to thank you for bringing your children! To see all of them (probably ~15 little ones running around) playing, joyful, laughing, doing art… was food for the soul. And to the neighboring EARTHEART family from the Stewart Ranch who brought their father who is 94, to witness and be a part! Having been a jazz musician himself, he was mesmerized by Trevor Green’s didgeridoo-infused performance. We believe having all generations present and actively participating is such an integral aspect to the weaving together of a sustainable community. We need to create a forum for our elders to share history, knowledge and insights if we are to evolve as people and preserve our native cultures. Thanks again to all for their presence, energy, enthusiasm and participation!

Another very relevant and exciting connection was made at the Solstice event as if the universe was answering in real time. We had the pleasure of meeting Cassandra Ogier, founder & director of ‘The Reflective Horse’ and creator of the concept Bareback Somatic Horse Riding. Cass runs personal and professional development programs that apply the natural inquisitive and responsive nature of horses, to enable clients to overcome challenges and realize their ambitions with new tools and perspectives. When speaking with her & sharing ideas, it became quite apparent that it was by no coincidence, that our paths had crossed for a reason. We are very eager to continue the conversation with her, seeing how we can collaborate to develop and model a therapeutic equine program as intended in development of our ‘Wild Horse Solution’.

By the end of the gathering, we had set a date to power away once again… July 19th we will bring together loving volunteers to get some work done! We are lucky to have been able to orchestrate groups with expertise in key aspects… Please let us know if you would like to ‘add something to the pot’! The next few projects will deal with infrastructure, including composting toilets. Water and invasive species are issues we’re focused on but will be hosting workshops and conducting activities pertaining to our core mission as we develop these initiatives – keep a look out for talent/ skill set requests, learning opportunities and fund raising campaigns in support.

One last thing to look out for… next month we will be having a “Fundraising Festival” for Trevor Green! He and his family are actively reaching out to get help in raising funds to mission out to Australia!! Not only will they get the opportunity to learn of the culture and people of the land where the didgeridoo originates; but TG will also be on tour, sharing with another side of the world the love & togetherness we strive to see (& be) more of here at EARTHEART.

Thanks for ‘listening’ & hoping your summer is off to a magnificent start!

We are celebrating National Help A Horse day with the ASPCA on April 26th! With this day marking a significant milestone in our progress for our ‘Wild Horse Solution‘, we will be demonstrating the first Mustangs to have moved through our training program. This event is also relevant because ‘adoption events’, such as this, are an important aspect of our marketing strategy, and we will be celebrating our first adoption to an excited family!

With ambitious spirits, we are taking advantage of the ASPCA’s national running of a competition held to ‘help a horse’. Successful execution of this event can result in receiving additional grant prizes in the name of our cause! Coincidently we have also just been informed that the BLM is anticipating posting of a ‘Grant RPF’ (requests for proposals), which means additional support, and therefore help in getting more wild Mustangs out of holding facilities.

The event will be programmed with presentations, demonstrations and activities based around education regarding the Mustangs and our related program. A highlight of the day will be a showcase of what talented trainer Travis Brown has accomplished working with one of our wild Mustangs. Travis is participating in the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition which takes place just weeks after our event and will be premiering, for us, his routine for the competition.

This is an opportunity to learn more about Mustangs, and how these ‘wild horses’, once gentled, can be trained to make great companions, work in service, and can be used for competitive and recreational riding.